Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

August 17, 2019

Tour of Utah 2019 – Stage 5 – Canyons Village at Park City Mountain – Canyons Village at Park City Mountain : 137 km

Much like the race profiles that have characterised its routes over the past 15 years, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, which begins August 12 at Snowbird Resort, has had an up-and-down trajectory in its ability to attract UCI WorldTour teams. The 2.HC race has seen its roster rise to as many as seven top-tier teams, and then sink as low as two. This year appears to be one of the ebbs in that flow, as the 2019 race – no doubt affected by the loss of the Colorado Classic men’s race the following week – drew just EF Education First and Trek-Segafredo. Nevertheless, the race boasts three returning champions and a rider who wore the yellow jersey at the Tour de France for two days last month. The 2019 race route, although centered near the Salt Lake City hub at the north end of the state, should supply plenty of challenges, obstacles and drama on the way to crowing the 2019 winner, as well as showing off Utah’s famed natural beauty.

Lachlan Morton (EF Education First) got the better of a two-way sprint in Park City to secure the stage 5 victory Saturday at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah over Hayden McCormick (Team Bridgelane).

The Australian took the outside line around the final bend before powering his way to the stage victory in a photo finish. McCormick was forced to settle for second place, but he picked up enough points during the stage to move to the top of the mountain classification standings.

In the post-stage press conference, Morton said a last-minute decision before the stage may have given him the advantage in the sprint.

“I’m not really one to look at the finish, but I just had a feeling, so five minutes before the start I just went down and rode the last 300 metres,” Morton said. “I’m not an amazing sprinter. My sprint is always the same. I could do 30 hard races and my sprint would be the same.

“So I thought if I just committed through the last corner, the only chance to come around would be in the last 50,” he said. “It turns out it was about a metre too late for Hayden but very perfect timing for me. I’d like to say I planned it, but sometimes luck just falls that way and you win.”

Simone Velasco (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM) was part of the chase group and crossed the finish line in third place, 18 seconds back with stage 4 winner Marco Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) and Evan Huffman (Rally UHC).

Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) added to his lead in the overall classification with one stage remaining. he now leads James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS) by 46 seconds and Niklas Eg by 1:10.

Morton won the overall in Utah in 2016 when he rode for Jelly Belly, but his performance up until Saturday was below par for the talented climber. Morton admitted that he was starting to have doubts about his form until something “clicked” Friday night.

“I wasn’t feeling very good in the first few days of this race,” he said. “I’ve had a big few months doing a few things, and I thought I’d done irreversible damage. Because leading into this race I thought I was going well, and I started racing and I was like, ‘Maybe I’ve really done something here.’ But then last night all of the sudden it just clicked, and all of the sudden I felt really good. In the meeting [team director] Fabrizio [Guidi] said I should try for the breakaway, so I just went with everything.”

How it unfolded

Saturday’s penultimate stage at the Tour of Utah started and finished at Canyons Village in Park City. The 137km route included 1,596 metres of climbing over three KOMs, the first of which came just 22.2 kilometres into the day and then at Browns Canyon with 29.2km and at the Utah Olympic Park with just 4.6km remaining.

Intermediate sprints at Kamas [34.5km] and Hoytsville [74.5km] lievend up the middle section of the stage between the climbs.

The day started with a 5.2km neutral roll out, and the attacks started as soon the the neutral flag dropped.

A group of eight riders peeled away with about 120km remaining, getting a small gap as more riders attempted to bridge. In the move were stage 4 winner Macro Canola (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizanè), stage 4 runner-up Travis McCabe (Worthy Pro Cycling), stage 4 most aggressive Hayden McCormick (Team Bridglane), Lachlan Morton (EF Education First), Evan Huffman (Rally UHC), Bernat Font (303 Project), Simone Velasco (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM), Michael Rice (Axeon Hagens Berman), Dylan Sunderalnd (Team Bridgelane) and Matt Zimmer (DC Bank Pro Cycling).

With 110km remaining, the 10 leaders has 30 seconds on a single chaser and 1:30 to the peloton.

McCormick took maximum points on the KOM as solo chaser Sam Boardman (Wildlife Generation) continued to linger at 30 seconds, with the bunch holding at 1:50. Boardman finally made contact with 100 km to go, and the lead groups swelled to 11 riders.

McCabe added another five points to his sprint tally, winning the intermediate sprint in Kamas ahead of Canola and jumping 20 points ahead of the Italian in the points competition.

With 85km remaining, the gap to the 11 leaders ballooned up to 3:45. The leaders added another 15 seconds over the next 5km, lifting their gap to an even four minutes with 80km remaining. Ten kilometres later the gap was up to 4:30.

McCanr took maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Hoytsville, and with just over 50km remaining, the leaders’ gap was holding above four minutes at 4:20.

The breakaway riders approached the bottom of the Browns Canyon climb with their 4:30 gap intact, as Israel Cycling Academy continued to power the chase for Hermans. McCormick won maximum points at the penultimate KOM ahead of Sunderland, Font and Canola.

The bunch seemed to sense the breakaway riders were going to be fighting for the win, and the impetus in the chase slowed considerably, allowing the gap to reach five minutes with just under 20km remaining.

The final KOM of the day, the category 2 ascent to the Utah Olympic Park, was nearly 5km long and topped out 4.6km from the finish, where the riders would face another small uphill after a descent.

Sunderland attacked the break with 13.5km remaining and opened a gap while his teammate McCormick waited in the group. The rest of the break appeared unimpressed, and didn’t take the bait to chase him down.

With 10km remaining, Sunderland had 10 seconds on the rest of the breakaway and 4:20 on the field. Cooperation among the breakaway started to fall apart, and Sunderland’s gap was up to 20 seconds a kilometre later.

Morton launched an attack that split the group, with only McCormick able to stick on his wheel. The other lost contact as Morton continued to power the move toward Sunderland.

In the peloton, Rally UHC went to the front to set a pace for Kyle Murphy, splitting the field and winnowing the group down to select climbers.

Up front, Morton and McCormick caught and dropped Sunderland with just over 6km to go. The duo powered away from their former breakmates in search of stage glory.

Meanwhile, back in the bunch, Hermans neutralised the Rally moves and protected his lead, while Serghei Tevtcov (Worthy Pro Cycling), who was not a threat to the overall, tried to jump away.

The leaders hit a gravel section 1km from the top of the climb, with Morton continuing to set the pace and a group of chasers dangling at 20 seconds back.

Down the road in the GC group, Murphy attacked again, but overall runner-up James Piccoli (Elevate-KHS) took up the chase to protect his podium spot.

McCormick took the final KOM ahead of Morton, while back down the road, Murphy cracked and started losing big time. Morton and McCormick continued to work together toward the stage win, while Huffman, Canola and Sunderland joined forces to chase them down.

The two riders sprinted into the finishing straight with Morton in the lead, but McCormick made a late surge at the line to force a photo finish. In the end, it was Morton who nailed the win.

In the GC battle, Hermans jumped away from the select group near the finish and added to his overall lead ahead of Piccoli and Niklas Eg (Trek-Segafredo).

Results :
1 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 3:05:54
2 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane
3 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:00:18
4 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
5 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
6 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:00:26
7 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:00:29
8 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
9 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:00:31
10 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:00:49
11 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
12 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:01:00
13 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling
14 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:08
15 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:01:15
16 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:22
17 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:24
18 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
19 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
20 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First
21 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:43
22 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:53
23 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First
24 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:01:59
25 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:02:01
26 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:02:05
27 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:07
28 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:02:08
29 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project
30 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:02:16
31 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:28
32 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:02:39
33 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
34 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized
35 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
36 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
37 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
38 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
39 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo
40 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
41 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo
42 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized
43 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
44 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM
45 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:02:45
46 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:03:00
47 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
48 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
49 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:03:07
50 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:03:27
51 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:03:41
52 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo 0:03:49
53 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy
54 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:04:01
55 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:04:05
56 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:05:14
57 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
58 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First
59 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
60 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
61 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
62 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
63 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team
64 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
65 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
66 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo
67 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized
68 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
69 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
70 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
71 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
72 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
73 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:06:22
74 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:06:50
75 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:07:01
76 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:07:26
77 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon
78 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling
79 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling
80 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
81 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project
82 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling
83 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project
84 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:07:30
85 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:08:23
86 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
87 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:08:25
88 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:08:32
89 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC
90 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:08:56
91 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:19
92 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:09:24
93 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis
94 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
95 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:10:08
96 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:10:41
97 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
98 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon
99 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
100 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
101 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:13:35

General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 15:34:34
2 James Piccoli (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:00:46
3 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:10
4 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:01:48
5 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:02:08
6 João Almeida (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:02:34
7 Peter Stetina (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:47
8 Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First 0:03:10
9 Rob Britton (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:53
10 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Israel Cycling Academy 0:04:15
11 Keegan Swirbul (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:04:44
12 Scott Bowden (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:04:50
13 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:05:51
14 Griffin Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:06:55
15 Dayer Quintana (Col) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:08:32
16 Serghei Tvetcov (Rom) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:08:51
17 Alex Hoehn (USA) Aevolo 0:09:01
18 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:57
19 Efren Santos Moreno (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:10:17
20 Eder Frayre (Mex) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:10:31
21 Hayden McCormick (NZl) Team Bridgelane 0:12:31
22 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education First 0:12:37
23 Simone Velasco (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:12:54
24 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:13:30
25 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:13:36
26 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:13:41
27 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:14:32
28 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:14:44
29 Andrew Vollmer (USA) Aevolo 0:15:02
30 Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:15:10
31 Dominik Bauer (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:15:45
32 Bernat Font Mas (Spa) 303 Project 0:16:04
33 Gregory Daniel (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:16:41
34 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:42
35 Pablo Andrés Alarcon Cares (Chi) Canel’s-Specialized 0:17:29
36 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:18:31
37 Oscar Eduardo Sanchez Guarin (Col) Canel’s-Specialized 0:21:17
38 Flavio de Luna (Mex) 303 Project 0:21:37
39 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:21:52
40 Travis McCabe (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:22:19
41 Alex Howes (USA) EF Education First 0:23:08
42 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:24:30
43 Gabriel Francisco Rojas Campos (CRc) Aevolo 0:25:11
44 Edwin Avila (Col) Israel Cycling Academy 0:25:24
45 Conor Schunk (USA) Aevolo 0:25:36
46 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:25:55
47 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:26:49
48 Jordan Cheyne (Can) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:27:02
49 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM 0:28:44
50 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:29:30
51 Alexander Cowan (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:30:47
52 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:31:15
53 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:32:35
54 Benjamin Wolfe (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:34:02
55 Tyler Lindorff (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:34:43
56 Cade Bickmore (USA) Aevolo 0:35:07
57 Matthew Zimmer (USA) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:35:15
58 TJ Eisenhart (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:35:33
59 Michael Rice (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:35:56
60 Cullen Easter (USA) 303 Project 0:37:15
61 Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:38:28
62 Brendan Rhim (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:40:23
63 Tony Baca (Mex) 303 Project 0:41:15
64 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:41:31
65 Evan Huffman (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:41:48
66 James Whelan (Aus) EF Education First 0:42:20
67 Ayden Toovey (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:42:35
68 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:42:46
69 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:43:15
70 Tanner Putt (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:44:53
71 Jean-Denis Thibault (Can) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:45:01
72 Cole Davis (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:45:29
73 Samuel Boardman (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:45:37
74 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:46:14
75 Justin Oien (USA) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:46:47
76 Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Arapahoe-Hincapie p/b BMC 0:46:51
77 Isaiah Newkirk (USA) 303 Project 0:47:53
78 Sven Thurau (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:48:10
79 Scott McGill (USA) Aevolo 0:48:15
80 Noah Granigan (USA) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:48:58
81 Camden Vodicka (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:49:14
82 Tyler Magner (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:49:16
83 Stephen Bassett (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:49:18
84 George Simpson (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 0:49:22
85 Kent Ross (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:50:37
86 Philipp Mamos (Ger) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:51:18
87 Antoine Leplingard (Fra) DC Bank Pro Cycling Team 0:51:39
88 Thomas Revard (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon 0:51:45
89 Eric Brunner (USA) Aevolo 0:51:58
90 Francisco Lara Carbajal (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:54:53
91 Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:54:54
92 Emile Jean (Can) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:55:35
93 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) Worthy Pro Cycling 0:55:53
94 Finn Gullickson (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 0:57:30
95 Oliver Flautt (USA) Team Dauner-Akkon 0:57:36
96 Leonel Palma Dajui (Mex) Canel’s-Specialized 0:59:24
97 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 1:00:03
98 Jose Alfredo Rodriguez Victoria (Mex) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 1:00:30
99 Austin Stephens (USA) 303 Project 1:00:43
100 Eric Young (USA) Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling 1:02:03
101 Maxx Chance (USA) Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling p/b Maxxis 1:02:58